


A Footnote In Time

by annalore



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Being Philosophical, Hogwarts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-28
Updated: 2004-12-28
Packaged: 2019-07-15 00:50:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16052051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annalore/pseuds/annalore
Summary: Remus and James will never be more than a footnote.





	A Footnote In Time

**Author's Note:**

> Watching _Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_ made me do it.

He looks at me one day, with a sort of smile. “This never happened, you know,” he says, tossing a card onto the table between us.

We’re playing a Muggle card game he taught me once, after being singed a time too many at Exploding Snap. He doesn’t mean the obvious — that he’s denying our relationship. No, Remus wouldn’t do that, not with a smile on his face. Not calm as you please, after shagging me upstairs in the dorm.

“What’s that?” I ask, eyes on the cards, trying to remember the rules. I think I might be losing.

Remus goes still, and I can tell he’s studying me. “This never happened,” he repeats, slowly. “When we die, nobody will remember anything but you and Sirius were friends, and that you two somewhat liked me and Wormtail. It would be like this had never happened.”

I want to wrestle him to the ground, scold him for getting daft notions, and kiss him senseless. But that’s Remus for you. He thinks too much, even when playing at cards, just after having had particularly good sex. And I can’t kiss him anyway, as we’re in the common room, with a crowd of other people.

I look up from the cards. I’m sure I’m losing. “You really are—”

“Daft, I know,” he finishes for me. “But think about it. We could be doing memory charms on each other once a week, and nobody else would even know. We wouldn’t know.”

I run a hand through my hair, then look over at him. His eyes are almost amber in the firelight. They’re animated, as is his face, with thought and emotion. I wonder, for a moment, that I could ever have become friends with him, with someone so unlike myself.

“I would know,” I say finally, because I have to say something, rather than sit there and stare at him for the rest of the night.

“But _how_?” I know I sounded certain, but I always do. Remus is rarely content with snap pronouncements and whims. “We could have had this conversation a dozen times now.”

“I would know,” I answer softly enough so nobody will overhear, “because I’ve memorized every inch of your skin, the sound of your voice, the color of your eyes.”

He looks at me like I’ve said something incredibly stupid, and I suspect I have. Sirius tells me I’m forever saying stupid things. I’ve only to open my mouth. I’m not poetic like he is, or deep like Remus.

“James…” His eyes are tawny now, almost golden. I forget how easily they change, sometimes. Mine are always a dullish sort of hazel.

“And I’ll live forever,” I continue blindly, “so I’ll never forget a day, a single minute.”

Remus smiles, lowers his eyes almost shyly. Then he looks at me, quite solemn. “They’ll never know how much I loved you,” he says, his composure wavering over the words.


End file.
